1. Field of the Invention
The invention is part of the field relating to portable devices for carrying and storing ski equipment and accessories. More particularly, the invention relates to wheeled hand-carts used to assist in these and other functions.
2. Description of Related Art
Many skiers find that having to walk to a ski lift in ski boots while carrying their skis is uncomfortable at best, and painful and exhausting for many participants of the sport. Apparently as a consequence of this experience, many devices have been proposed to ease access to the slopes for many of those whose have to carry their equipment to the ski lift during any walk that takes longer than two or three minutes.
Prior-art devices incorporating wheels for carrying ski equipment may conveniently be classified into two kinds. One kind would be those that use the carried ski equipment as a structural element, usually by attaching wheels and brackets or straps to the skis. Another kind would be the type where a structurally self-sufficient wheeled cart may be loaded with some or all of the equipment capable of being carried by the device, without the need for any of the carried equipment to serve as a structural element of the assemblage.
Yet another useful classification of the related art would be to divide devices for carrying ski equipment into one class in which the user must bear a substantial portion (perhaps half) of the weight of the carried equipment, and another class in which the intended mode of use is to pull the cart along with the weight of the loaded cart substantially balanced about the axis of its wheels, leaving very little vertical weight for the user to bear.
A further important class is those devices which do not carry ski boots, but instead require the user to either walk in the ski boots or else carry the boots independently of the device.
In all the classes above, devices have previously been proposed that would provide some means of securing at least some of the ski equipment and/or allow small personal items to be stored on the device.
However, it appears that none of the previous devices have succeeded in providing an elegant device that would allow a user to expend very little effort in pulling along a balanced load, carry all ski equipment and accessories, and serve as a secure and dry mobile locker that may be locked near the ski lift, in which skiers may leave their street shoes and other items that are not immediately needed.